Raced heart beat. Taken epidural injection, percoset and motrin. Have Anxiety. Is it due to medication taken with caffeine?

I just got my second epidural injection in my lower back this morning. This evening I went to 7-11 to get a cappuccino to stay awake then came home and took a 10mg. Percocet and an 800 mg. Motrin. I was ok for a little while then my heart started to race a bit and long story short the percocet doesn't usually do that is it because of the cappuccino? I already suffer from anxiety so i am probably making it worse then it is and it is continuing now because I keep thinking it is worse then it is. So i need to now make sure that I didn't do anything wrong?

Follow-up: Raced heart beat. Taken epidural injection, percoset and motrin. Have Anxiety. Is it due to medication taken with caffeine? 6 hours later

I am aware that caffeine makes the heart race but but in the mornings when i wake up with my horrific leg and back pain I generally first make a cup of regular coffee, then I take a 10mg. Percocet and an 800mg. Motrin for my pain and i usually fine. I am wondering if this happened last night to me because of the cappuccino with high caffeine count? Were there still any recurrences from the epidural from yesterday morning left in my system? And keep in mind again that I do do have anxiety and i do tend to allow myself to get panic attacks, so once I feel something out of the ordinary like heart racing, I think about it too much and i probably made it worse. I just want to make sure again that i did nothing wrong so that I don't do it again

Answered by Dr. Geeta Sundar 23 minutes later

answer Id 36676; conversation id 36676

Dear XXXXXXX,

I think it was the high caffeine content in your cappuccino that brought about the attack. Additionally many times cappuccino contains theophylline (which may not be present in your normal coffee) that can also cause a racing pulse. The ingredients in Percocet and Topiramate may not be responsible since you are taking them for sometime. Motrin can cause a racing pulse due to gastric irritation leading to gas formation and pressure on the heart by the stomach. The epidural does not normally cause a racing pulse unless you are allergic to the contents.

It makes sense to watch the caffeine intake when you suffer from anxiety problems. Caffeine has potential to interact with various ingredients in the list of medications that you take.

Hope this answers your query. Please accept my answer if you do not have any query left.